4 Chapter 4: The Director

As Matthew laid there, thinking about the events that led him to this moment, the old nurse walked in.

"Ok Mr Haynes, the doctor says your all-clear to go now, make sure to take all of your things and try not to come back, for your own sake." She spoke with a hint of concern, which was hard to notice.

Mark stood up and turned around so Matthew could get dressed in the new clothes, Mark bought for him. It was just a plain black shirt, with brown pants and boots. You could tell the size had been guessed, everything was a little too big for him. Accept the boots which fit perfectly.

"Alright, kid, it's time to go and get you tested, so we can put you to work."

"I don't understand." Matthew was still confused and didn't know what to do, so he followed Mark outside the hospital and through the calm and peaceful city. They were in the upper section, which occupied; people with power and high ranking guilds. But where they were going was the headquarters for all hunters. It is where each hunter receives their class and assignments, it is also one of the only places to awaken someone, but to do that you need permission from the man in charge.

Just before entering the building, Mark turned and looked straight at Matthew. "Ok, kid, this is it, you will meet with the director and he will decide if you're allowed to go through with the forced awakening. You need to make sure it goes well, for your sake. "Mark usually spoke in an upbeat voice, but he was deadly serious. This made Matthew start to worry.

They walked inside and towards the woman who was behind a desk. "Hello, this one is here to see the director," Mark spoke in his cheerful voice as he pointed at Matthew.

"Ah yes, I see, your guild master has already informed us. The director is waiting to see him. Just head up the stairs and straight to the top, he'll call you when he's ready." She spoke professionally and gave a smile to them as they walked up the stairs.

At the top, there was a single door at the end of the room. On the left side were 5 chairs, perfectly lined. On the right side were heads of various magical beasts, that had been hunted and killed, personally by the director. As the door opened, Matthew and Mark were greeted by an overwhelming aura, Marks hairs stood on end, while Matthew thought death had come to take him away.

"I'm guessing your Matthew?" The director spoke in a heavy voice. The director was a tall man with black hair and a streak of white at the side. He wore an all-black suit which highlighted his strong figure.

Matthew was stunned, he couldn't move an inch and was finding it hard to breathe. 'There's no way in hell that this man is human.' The director then took a deep breath in and suddenly all of the pressure disappeared, like it was never there.

Matthew then nodded his head in response to the question, still shocked at how all that power vanished like it was never there. "Great, come into my office." the director then gestured his hand into the office.

Matthew walked in and sat on a chair that the director pointed to. The director then came over and sat in his chair, while staring at Matthew the entire time.

"Okay Matthew, I'm sure you know why you are here, so I'm going to get straight to the point, I have no idea how you survived that horrific accident, and I'm even more puzzled on how you can sit there so calmly, after just experiencing a tragedy. But what I do know is that I can make sure you never have to go through anything like that again."

"Wait, so you're going to help me awaken?" Matthew questioned with a delighted look on his face.

"Well, I can give you the means to awaken, but it's up to you on whether it will work." The director continued "There are many things that can go wrong. Your body or soul could reject the mana, your mind could break under the pressure or the Rune could blatantly shut you out which causes the mana to fry your brain. That last one hasn't happened in a long time though." The director spoke with a slight smile, which calmed and shocked Matthew because he knew nothing about the risks.

"Okay, I understand and I'm willing to do it.

'I'll do almost anything to not end up like a pathetic mess again.' Matthew then clenched his fists, he was starting to get angry when he saw the director staring at him again.

Matthew then gave a fake cough to clear the air. "So are we going somewhere for the awakening then?"

"What of course not, you're going to do it right here and right now." The director replied with a slight grin.